“Eh, what do you mean?” She reacted in horror. The secret she was tasked in keeping for him already was at risk of being exposed. “There’s nothing between us.”
“When you say it like that…” The pair cornered her, there was no escape from this break room with her being outnumbered and them cutting off the only exit. “It sounds like there’s totally something between the two of you.” Said Emako.
“Yeah, like sneaking around and having some steamy hot romance.” Said Yoshiho. Their reaction to what they believed what going on between Fusa and Nishiki only proved they spent a little too much time reading those romance novels. “Oh, I bet it’s just like ‘50 Shades of Black’.” The pair of office women giggled in giddy joy.
“Heavens no.” Fusa could hardly believe this was the conclusion they reached. “I hated when you two showed me that movie. There’s no way I’d ever want that in real life.” She hoped they only meant the part of the film where it involved people who worked at the same spot. It disturbed her to think these two would consider her tastes anything but vanilla.
“Well, it’s probably not as naughty.” They still didn’t let up. Emako went behind her and now it was her turn to put her hands onto the girl’s shoulders. “But it’s still very adventurous, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She replied, trying to turn and face her, but the grip was too strong. Fusa didn’t know what was worse about this situation. The fact they nearly found out the truth or that what they believed to be the truth was more humiliating. “We were just talking about something that happened while I was there.”
“You make it sound so innocent with the way you talk.” Yoshiho replied. “But then what was he talking about being so rough on you?” It was his words that sent them down the rabbit hole of believing there to be a hot and naughty romance between the coworkers. “You looked pretty clean when we saw you, but maybe that’s why it took you so long to message us about where you really needed to go.”
It wasn’t lost on them how late she was to their actual get together. They had assumed she would quickly apologize to the man on the blunder and then head off to call them and get the right address. Yet she was nearly an hour late, and the call only came about 30 to 40 minutes after they figured she would’ve come to his place.
Now with them being aware she entered his house, it gave them plenty of ideas on what had occurred during this time window.
“Maybe you two are a lot closer than we thought you were.” Emako gave her insight on their fantasy of what happened. The two women had thought she was close to him, but mainly in a discussion and friendly way. Which was why they kept pushing her to make the jump and try to work a relationship with Nishiki. However, what if those two were already at that point, they thought.
Perhaps she might’ve taken advantage of accidentally dropping in on him. Of course this wouldn’t make any sense as she claimed to have not known where he lived. But they figured she could be lying and was not at all surprised about the fake address given to her. Then she’d be able to use that to try and trick them as she would simply play the role of an innocent embarrassed girl when she finally did meet up with them. A simple disguise that anyone would fall for, but not them.
But the only reason they wouldn’t fall for that supposed trick was because they were idiots. There was a reason no one called them Sherlock and Watson.
Anyway, back to their fantasy, the pair had conjured up this idea that the pair were secretly dating. Which was why Nishiki normally avoided going out to the pubs with the others to try and avoid giving it away. But he would be a completely different man when alone with her.
“And then, when he said he was rough on you.” Yoshiho completed their story with one final point. “That means he went too hard on you when the two of you had-”
“Don’t say it!” Fusa cut her off. The thought of her being intimate with anyone was a bit embarrassing to talk about with coworkers, including that they were in public. Her face bright red over knowing these two likely had a mental image of her and Nishiki in a moment not friendly for the eyes or minds of children. She covered her chest despite being fully clothed thinking about how they viewed her. Hopefully it was flattering, at least.
“If that’s not what happened, then what did?” Asked Emako. “You two are hiding something and we want to know what it is.”
“It’s supposed to be a secret.” She thought they were all supposed to be adults. Wouldn’t they at least respect that of her? Fusa sighed as she looked at her two friends, even though they annoyed her. Admittedly she did hang around them so she still got to enjoy some of the fun she had when she was still in college and high school.
“How about this?” Yoshiho gave a suggestion for compromise. Even though the idea of keeping a secret should not be compromised for Fusa’s sake. “Don’t tell us what it is, just give us a hint and we’ll be satisfied.”
“Yep.” Emako even thought it would be a good idea they ask one question, and that was all they got. “Just tell me this and we won’t try any harder. Does his secret have something to do with that woman who’s living with him right now?”
“…” Fusa froze up in thought as she wondered if only telling them a simple yes or no would be okay from Nishiki’s standpoint. He likely would take issue with her giving hints, but it was better than just giving away the entire thing. The pair of girls looked at her closely, silently telling her she shouldn’t tell them a lie. “It does.” She shook her head in disappointment as she honestly told them the partial truth.
“Wow…” The pair of girls then backed off and huddled to whisper to the other about something. “You think he’s dating that girl?” Asked Emako.
“Totally.” Yoshiho knew someone like Nishiki had been supposedly single for a long time now. He must’ve been looking for someone and took advantage of whatever led to his new living situation. “That sucks, I feel so bad for her.” The two turned for a moment to catch a glimpse of her waiting for them to finish their discussion. “Fusa’s probably bummed she missed her chance and is trying to pretend she never cared in the first place.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.” These two would’ve been right if she actually cared in the first place. Not like they would know one way or another. They simply just thought what they believed in the first place was correct and never bothered to check any deeper than that.
“Okay.” The pair broke up their huddle and returned to her. The both understood the gravity of the situation and were prepared with their solution. “We’re going to take you out after work today.”
“Huh?” Fusa showed a bewildered face over why they felt the need to give her anything. She wasn’t sad outside of being disappointed on giving in so easily. The girl should’ve stood her ground tougher on keeping the secret between herself and Nishiki for his sake. “Why?”
“We get it’s hard to see someone get taken away when you thought you might’ve had a chance.” Said Emako. “So we wanted to cheer you up. Who cares about Nishiki anyway, he’s just a jerk. Guys like him are a dime a dozen.”
“Yeah.” Said Yoshiho. “Screw him, if he doesn’t see what a catch you are, then he’s the biggest idiot in the world.” Now they had entered the phase of trash talking him to console their friend. Meanwhile else where…
“Ahchoo!” Nishiki sneezed while at his desk handling some work. “Oh, excuse me.”
“Hope you’re not getting sick.” Hinae complained to him, handing him a tissue.
“No, that’s strange I’ve been feeling pretty good this week.” He replied. It was an oddly strong sneeze for him.
“I think you two are both misunderstanding…” Fusa now looked at the pair in disappointment like a parent does to a child that made a mistake. “Look, there’s nothing going on between us and it’s not like I don’t want to see him.” She told them there was nothing for them to worry about. “I’m pretty sure he’s not dating that girl. He’s just a kind guy helping out a friend.”
“If that’s the case, then…” This gave the pair another idea she wasn’t going to like.
